Mills delivers another page-turner with ‘Burden of Proof’
By M. CLARE HAEFNER
“She’d followed the rule book and still failed.” Already reeling from a crisis negotiation gone wrong, FBI Special Agent April Ramos is exhausted and unprepared for the situation unfolding around her. Handed a kidnapped baby moments before she’s taken hostage at gunpoint by the girl’s frantic father, April listens to his story and knows it will take all her skills to determine the truth.
“This whole thing feels like a nightmare that goes on and on.” Jason Snyder is convinced something sinister is happening in Sweet Briar, Texas. Hours after his business partner is killed, the construction company owner is a fugitive — wanted for murdering his best friend. As he’s trying to figure out why the local sheriff insists he committed the crime, his 1-year-old daughter Isabella is kidnapped. Jason tracks Isabella to Houston and takes the woman holding her hostage — quickly analyzing his options while praying that the FBI agent he’s now holding at gunpoint will believe him when he swears he’s been framed.
“Caring about others didn’t seem like a character flaw. While she despised the way crimes affected victims, sometimes the bad guys were as much victims as the innocent.” Drawn to Jason and his young daughter, April wants to believe him, but she and Jason soon learn that uncovering the truth is harder when there are so many motives and no clear allies.
From page one, author DiAnn Mills goes full throttle in her newest novel, “Burden of Proof” (Tyndale, October 2018). Meeting her heroine on the job, the reader is quickly thrown into the action, learning a little about who April Ramos is — a top-notch FBI negotiator who makes complex decisions in mere moments and carries guilt from every life she’s lost.
As the plot progresses, the reader also learns a little more about Jason Snyder — a man still struggling from his wife’s untimely death to cancer who is seeking a way to prove he’s innocent — even though he’s clearly keeping secrets.
If you’re already a fan of Mills’ work, there’s a lot to love about this page-turner. “Burden of Proof” is action-packed and offers more complex characters than some of her previous works. With a sheriff playing loose with the law, deputies with murky allegiances and FBI agents hiding their true objectives, April and Jason have a lot to unravel. As they solve the case, they also have to face their feelings — about their own short-comings and their growing attraction to each other. Every time it seems like the case is about to be solved, a new element is introduced, leaving the reader as well as April and Jason wondering how it will all play out.
If you’ve never picked up one of her novels, this book is a great place to start. Mills deftly explores the flawed natures inherent in every human and encourages her characters — and her readers — to embrace life’s unpredictability.
“We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow and don’t know what sorts of mountains and valleys we’ll experience along our journeys,” Mills writes in an end note to her readers. “The age-old question of why do bad things happen to good people can become our mantra. Or we can choose to ignore our bruises and travel the road of good and prioritize truth and justice above all things.”
Seeking the “Burden of Proof” proves quite the adventure, and Mills gives readers a lot to think about as the story unfolds.
